The Great Exhibition–Inside the Crystal Palace

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Let’s return to 1851 and the Crystal Palace, shall we?

A short walk from the [Victoria & Albert Museum] is Hyde Park, the original site of the Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace was 563 metres long, 139 metres wide and over 30 metres high. Pre-fabricated parts meant the building went up in only 22 weeks. Work started in August 1850. First, the whole site was enclosed with hoardings. Trenches were dug, then the concrete foundation was laid. Underground iron pipes formed the base for the columns.

By the end of October, workmen were raising 200 columns a week. At the same time, girders were added to support the galleries and roof. The most difficult part of the job was hoisting the main ribs for the transept roof. All 16 were fixed in one week. The height of the roof was designed to leave the trees undisturbed. The roof for the main part of the building was added. Glazing wagons ran in grooves in the gutters, and in one week 80 men put in over 18,000 panes of glass. The boards from the hoardings were used to make the floor. The interior was painted red, yellow and blue.

“First sketch for the Great Exhibition Building by Sir Joseph Paxton. Museum no. E.575-1985.
First sketch for the Great Exhibition Building showing two elevation sketches of the
building with an attached telegraphic despatch or telegram below dated 15th July, 1850.”
(From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-crystal-palace)

“The Transept of The Crystal Palace, 1851 by Louis Haghe. Museum no. CIS 19604. The interior of the transept of The Great Exhibition of Crystal Palace of 1851, showing a vast exhibition area with large trees, surrounded by a wrought iron gate. On the ground floor is a large number of people, men, women and children, in dress of the period looking at sculptures of classical figures, satyrs, angels, and taking tea and being served refreshement by waiters.” (From http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-great-exhibition-visitor-experience)

1 May 1851
This day is one of the greatest and most glorious of our lives… It is a day which makes my heart swell with thankfulness… The Park presented a wonderful spectacle, crowds streaming through it, – carriages and troops passing… The Green Park and Hyde Park were one mass of densely crowded human beings, in the highest good humour… before we neared the Crystal Palace, the sun shone and gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon which the flags of every nation were flying… The sight as we came to the centre where the steps and chair (on which I did not sit) was placed, facing the beautiful crystal fountain was magic and impressive. The tremendous cheering, the joy expressed in every face, the vastness of the building, with all its decoration and exhibits, the sound of the organ… all this was indeed moving.

Is the one model on the cover (whose character you have chosen to be the hero of your last book) going to grace the cover of the last book or will they have to use someone else? I don’t want to cause spoilers, but I was just going by the summaries you had given of this series.

Can you imagine how long it would take to build something as enormous as the Crystal Palace these days? What they did in 22 weeks with not much more than man- and steam-powered tools would probably take well over a year to do now with all of our modern equipment (and bureaucracy).

It is a wonderful cover Kaye! It is fascinating what they accomplished back then. Victoria and Albert was the first time I had ever heard of The Great Exhibition. What an amazing thing to have witnessed! 🙂